| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to public records; providing an exemption |
| 3 | from public records requirements for specified proprietary |
| 4 | business information obtained from a telecommunications |
| 5 | company or broadband company by the Department of |
| 6 | Management Services; providing for future review and |
| 7 | repeal; providing a statement of public necessity; |
| 8 | providing a contingent effective date. |
| 9 |
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| 10 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 11 |
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| 12 | Section 1. Telecommunications and broadband company |
| 13 | proprietary business information; public records exemption.-- |
| 14 | (1) Any proprietary business information obtained from a |
| 15 | telecommunications company or broadband company by the |
| 16 | Department of Management Services, or any person or agency |
| 17 | authorized by the department, is confidential and exempt from s. |
| 18 | 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution. |
| 19 | (2) For the purposes of the exemption provided in |
| 20 | subsection (1), "proprietary confidential business information" |
| 21 | includes any proprietary or otherwise confidential information |
| 22 | or documentation, including plans, billing and payment records, |
| 23 | trade secrets, or other information, that is intended to be and |
| 24 | is treated by the telecommunications or broadband company as |
| 25 | confidential and is not otherwise publicly available to the same |
| 26 | extent and in the same format as requested by the department. |
| 27 | Proprietary confidential business information does not include |
| 28 | aggregate information related to the geographic scope of the |
| 29 | availability of broadband services or the speed of services that |
| 30 | are available in the state so long as the information does not |
| 31 | directly or indirectly identify a provider of broadband |
| 32 | services. |
| 33 | (4) This section is subject to the Open Government Sunset |
| 34 | Review Act in accordance with s. 119.15 and shall stand repealed |
| 35 | on October 2, 2014, unless reviewed and saved from repeal |
| 36 | through reenactment by the Legislature. |
| 37 | Section 2. The Legislature finds that it is a public |
| 38 | necessity that proprietary business information obtained from a |
| 39 | telecommunications company or broadband company by the |
| 40 | Department of Management Services, or any person or agency |
| 41 | authorized by the department, be held confidential and exempt |
| 42 | from public records requirements. Disclosure of proprietary |
| 43 | confidential business information would adversely affect the |
| 44 | business interests of telecommunications and broadband companies |
| 45 | providing such information by harming them in the marketplace |
| 46 | and compromising the security of the communications network. |
| 47 | Further, disclosure of such proprietary confidential business |
| 48 | information would impair competition in the communications |
| 49 | industry. Competitors can use such information to impede full |
| 50 | and fair competition in the telecommunications marketplace to |
| 51 | the disadvantage of the consumers of telecommunications |
| 52 | services. Thus, it is the finding of the Legislature that |
| 53 | proprietary business information obtained from a |
| 54 | telecommunications company or broadband company by the |
| 55 | Department of Management Services, or any person or agency |
| 56 | authorized by the department, must be held confidential and |
| 57 | exempt from disclosure under s. 119.07(1), Florida Statutes, and |
| 58 | s. 24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution. |
| 59 | Section 3. This act shall take effect on the same date |
| 60 | that HB 7091 or similar legislation takes effect, if such |
| 61 | legislation is adopted in the same legislative session or an |
| 62 | extension thereof and becomes law. |